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May Day holiday weekend

I love sharing recipes at festivals, this week I was at a local Chilli Festival at Eastnor Castle. Naturally I took some beans and enjoyed cooking them with a chilli or two!

I also made a herby Quinoa salad with wild garlic and some smoky sizzling fajitas. These were served in a fava bean flatbread.

To make the flatbread it’s a similar method to making a dosa. Mix 120g fava bean flour with 300ml of water, allow to stand for 30minutes. Heat a flat griddle pan and brush lightly with oil, Pour a ladleful of the mixture onto the hot pan and cook on one side then flip over and cook the other. This mixture makes five flatbreads.

Here is the recipe for the chilli

British Bean Chilli

1 chopped onion

1 clove of garlic crushed

1 fresh chilli chopped

200g cooked beans, whole fava, red haricot, black badgers,

1 tsp chipotle chilli paste

1 tin of chopped tomatoes/4 fresh tomatoes

½ tsp smoked dried chillies, optional

Heat oil in a pan, sauté the onion add the fresh chilli and garlic. Add the chipotle paste.

Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, and stir well.

Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Add water as required. If you are brave add a little more dried chilli!

I love Spring – so many shades of green! The morning light has been amazing, highlighting the many shades of green as the blossom fades! It’s been good getting out for walks. I always enjoy collecting wild garlic and it’s been good sharing it at cookery demonstrations this Spring.

It works well blended with white beans to make a delicious pate.

Wild Garlic Pate

1 tin white beans e.g. butter, cannelini

handful of wild garlic (approx25g)

1 tbsp olive/rapeseed oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper (to taste)

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend.

Season, more lemon juice could be added to taste. A small amount of water may be added to achieve a dip-like consistency.

I’m also enjoying asparagus season, it’s lovely to make use of this local ingredient while it’s here. Here’s a recipe which has gone down well at local food festivals.

Fried Butterbeans with asparagus

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tin butter beans

zest of 1 lemon

1 red chilli finely chopped

handful of sliced asparagus

salt and pepper

handful chopped parsley

2 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil

Put pan on the heat, add the asparagus with a small amount of water.

When the water has absorbed add some oil. Add the butter beans and fry for a few moments.

Add the garlic, chilli and lemon zest and cook for two minutes more.

Remove from heat, season to taste and sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.

Serve with flatbread or cous cous. Broccoli spears work well when asparagus goes out of season.

It’s been great being part of Asparafest in Evesham this year, celebrating asparagus and all things green!

The beginning of May is a beautiful time in Malvern. The annual Well Dressing takes place over May Day holiday weekend. This year the theme was Peace it was great to see how different groups of people had decorated the wells.
My B and B guests really enjoyed seeing the wells decorated for longer this year as some of the shops decorated their windows to celebrate the Malvern Spring Festival at the Three Counties Showground.
Here are some of my favourites.